Hi Everyone,
My name is Sophie. I am originally from Charlottesville, VA, but recently moved from Honolulu, Hawaii to our forever home in Duluth, MN. My husband and I, along with our furry family, lived there for nearly six years. We loved it and it was a truly magical and beautiful chapter in our hearts that we will forever cherish but we are beyond eager and excited for this next adventure to unfurl. I have only lived here for a little over two weeks but already adore this area and the vibes here.
I graduated with a B.S. in Appropriate Technology ages ago from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. Thereafter I moved back to Charlottesville and accrued nearly a decade of experience in hospitality in working in upscale french restaurants and was a part of the management team there. When we moved to Hawaii I pivoted completely into the elementary educational realm, I am so thankful I took this plunge and fell into this community. I was an academic tutor with a focus on Language Arts through the YMCA at an afterschool program at a local elementary school. I worked with that program for three years. I then ended up substitute teaching at a prestigious private school, Punahou School for a little less than two years. I was able to substitute for the Junior School which included grades K-5. I also worked four summers there as an afternoon enrichment instructor for kindergarten or first grade.
I genuinely loved my time in these roles, especially at Punahou. This was by far my greatest working experience to date. Punahou is truly such a special place chock full with amazing educators, I had the privilege and pleasure of working with a plethora of people from diverse backgrounds. I worked closely with many talented, caring, creative, and thoughtful individuals. I learned immensely from these role models along with the students I taught as well. During this timeframe I received a certificate in Special Education and Inclusion through Leeward Community College in Pearl City, Hawaii. In addition I was able to serve my yoga community in Honolulu by working as a studio support member for nearly 2.5 years.
Librarianship has been on the back of my mind for a while now. I knew I wanted to be in education but in a different capacity than a traditional teacher. I know in my heart librarianship is where I want to venture when it comes to my career and goals. I genuinely enjoy serving my unique communities and empowering and helping them in any way that I can. This will be my third year with the MLIS program at SJSU, but I have taken it incredibly slow thus far. The first two years I only took one class per semester due to my taxing work schedule and wanting to wade cautiously into the program. I am now increasing my workload up to two classes per semester as I feel more grounded and better equipped to do so responsibly.
I am ecstatic to share that I just landed my first library gig officially this past week. I begin tomorrow in my new role as a library assistant at a local high school in the area. This library must be rather large since they have four library assistants. I am anxious in that I do not have immense experience working with high school students (elementary has been more my forte) and I have never professionally worked in a library setting other than subbing in ours a couple of times. I am incredibly excited though, I am going in with the growth mindset mentality. I recognize how great of an opportunity this is and that I will learn tremendously through this endeavor. I know it will be fulfilling and heartwarming to serve my community here, there are many facets I am looking forward to!
In addition, I am looking forward to increasing my workload and exploring my librarian journey further this semester! This semester officially allows me to dive into electives for the first time since starting this scholastic adventure and I am thrilled about that. I appreciated my core classes but am eager to delve deeper into more niche areas of librarianship and information services. I chose this course because I immediately connected to and enjoyed Dr. Stephen’s passionate and informative lectures that comprised a majority of INFO 200. He inspired me greatly witnessing his creativity, thoughtfulness, and wealth of knowledge for this course. In regards to our hyperlinked library course, I am exultant to cover concepts of participatory culture, curiosity, the human touch involved within the hyperlinked library sphere, amongst many other possibilities and prospects.
In my spare time I love reading, creating art (especially junk journaling), photography, floral design, being outside (especially gardening and hiking), practicing yoga, baking, and spending time with loved ones, in particular with our five fur babies; three chinchillas and two kitties. One of our newest members is our kitten who is about to turn one, he is a pirate tuxedo cat named Turbo. He is wild and we are so grateful to have rescued him from a beach in Hawaii. I am looking forward to an amazing and learning filled semester with you all! Thanks for reading!
Below I have included some photos. (In order from left to right and top to bottom: collage of some of my various art pieces and mediums I dabble with, collage of some of my fave animals, collage of some of my favorite shots whilst exploring the great outdoors, one of my favorite sunset encounters whilst living in Hawaii, greetings from Turbo, my favorite floral design forage.
Lastly the photo in the middle of this post is my beloved bookshelf adorned with trinkets and some of my favorite reads.)
